by Adrian Nandu. Posted on November 3, 2013, Sunday
LABUAN: Labuan Member of Parliament, Rozman Isli said the island will not be affected by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation due to its duty free status.
Nevertheless, the policy was better than the Sales and Services Tax (SST), he said on Friday after meeting with members of the photography fraternity here.
Rozman said some 160 developed and developing countries worldwide were using the GST system.
“The GST is good as it will avoid cascading tax and it is more fair where the prices of the goods should be cheaper, while the tax system is more transparent compared to SST.
“When GST is implemented, income and corporate taxes will be reduced, making our country more competitive,” he said.
He said further that Malaysia would start its GST rate at 6 per cent where Singapore was at 7 per cent, while the rest of the countries in Asia were at 10 per cent.
“This new tax system is part of the plan to achieve our goal to become a high income nation. Through GST, national revenue will increase and we will have funds to build many other facilities such as schools, hospitals and others,” he said.
When asked about the issue of cabotage policy that has been often blamed for the rising cost of goods in East Malaysia including Labuan, Rozman agreed that the policy should be abolished for the benefit of the people in Borneo.
Meanwhile, he disclosed that some other road projects would be implemented here soon.
“The first is the road to link Pulau Enoe to Kinabenuwa and then another to link further to Kampung Sungai Bangat. It will reduce traffic congestion at the town and this new road will open up a new industrial area.
“The second is the road from Saguking to Kampung Batu Arang. This project has been approved by the government and will be implemented by the end of this year.
“We have also asked for a new road to be paved from Tanjung Purun to Kampung Nagalang,” he said.
He disclosed that he planned to build a marina city here which would be equipped with tourism products such as a theme park, residential areas and many more.
He said he was also committed to building an integrated port and bridge to connect Labuan and Sabah.
No comments:
Post a Comment